Work for Happiness or Vice Versa?
Rocko Chen
March 20, 2008
School counselors had always said something along the lines of "Get a job you love, and you´ll never work for a day." The worn out axiom suggests that one´s life long purpose lies in a pursuit for some "lovable" repetitive task. Does that make sense?
Family, close friends make up what most would describe as sources of happiness; yet to this date no tedious process has kept the passion alive.
According to CNN, it has been quantified since 2003
The formula,
Happiness = P + 5E + 3H
P = Personal Characteristics (optimism, adaptability, resilience)
E = Existence (health, social life, financial wealth)
H = Higher Order (self-esteem, expectations, ambitions)
Given the variables, happiness becomes an output in the payoff function in the game of life. Everyday folks represent players in the game, and the rational ones work to maximize happiness as total payoff.
It becomes clear. The act of work serves simply a pathway, or process toward happiness. It seems much more sensible to focus on things one wants out of life, rather than "loving" the route toward them.
Everyone wakes up each morning making the decision on the kind of work, i.e. strategy, to uptake in order to achieve greater levels of happiness as payoff.
E.g.:
Some mothers choose to set up home offices so they could afford to have more time with their kids.
Some people choose to work for global conglomerates because it provided them financial stability and a chance to fulfill their corporate ambitions.
Therefore, choosing paths with the least extent of resistance, with the greatest potential in payoff, and one becomes mathematically bound to find happiness at the end of the road.
Family, close friends make up what most would describe as sources of happiness; yet to this date no tedious process has kept the passion alive.
According to CNN, it has been quantified since 2003
The formula,
Happiness = P + 5E + 3H
P = Personal Characteristics (optimism, adaptability, resilience)
E = Existence (health, social life, financial wealth)
H = Higher Order (self-esteem, expectations, ambitions)
Given the variables, happiness becomes an output in the payoff function in the game of life. Everyday folks represent players in the game, and the rational ones work to maximize happiness as total payoff.
It becomes clear. The act of work serves simply a pathway, or process toward happiness. It seems much more sensible to focus on things one wants out of life, rather than "loving" the route toward them.
Everyone wakes up each morning making the decision on the kind of work, i.e. strategy, to uptake in order to achieve greater levels of happiness as payoff.
E.g.:
Some mothers choose to set up home offices so they could afford to have more time with their kids.
Some people choose to work for global conglomerates because it provided them financial stability and a chance to fulfill their corporate ambitions.
Therefore, choosing paths with the least extent of resistance, with the greatest potential in payoff, and one becomes mathematically bound to find happiness at the end of the road.
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